


Wouldn't Want To Be Cliché

by Skyson



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Confession, Coulson cares about Skye, Drabble, F/M, No Angst, Skye cares about Coulson, acknowledgement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-27 03:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2677892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyson/pseuds/Skyson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little post- 2x07, pre- 2x08 drabble. Skye and Coulson have a heart to heart. Just a moment in the office.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wouldn't Want To Be Cliché

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to the Bill Withers song featured in the episode, "Who Is He (And What Is He To You)", and the thing I kept going back to was the naming of Skye and Coulson's relationship. It's fairly difficult to define, and if they ask it out loud, "Who are you to me?" - and if it were a Skoulson world as we wish it would be - that could be the moment they realize just how important they are to one another.

* * *

 

“You know, the last time I caught you in here with your record player on, the rest of the day didn’t end up going so well.”

Coulson looked up from his desk at the sound of Skye’s voice. He hadn’t heard her enter the room; granted, his music was fairly loud. She turned the volume down a little before approaching his desk.

“What are you working on?” She asked, lounging in the chair across from him. She was dressed for sleep, in a loose long-sleeved t-shirt and sweatpants, but her eyes were alert and focused.

“Just some paperwork,” He assured her, moving his arm off the page so she could see that he was telling the truth. “Turns out aliens require paperwork I never even knew existed.” He said dryly.

“Why don’t you have somebody else do that?” Skye wondered, frowning. His pen hesitated over the page, and he glanced up at her. The look on his face made her lean forward in her chair to look more closely at the file on his desk.

“I’ve only just assured the team that I’m not going crazy. I better wait a little while before informing them about my biological status.” Coulson said, and Skye could tell that he was only pretending to be flippant. Her fingers pressed against the edge of the file folder, not pulling it closer to her, but just touching it reverently.

“Is this your whole file?” Skye asked quietly, looking back up at him, still leaning partially on his desk.

“Most of it,” Coulson said. “Even though you erased us back when Hydra first revealed themselves, Fury had copies of files of our whole team in his little black box. Has one on you, too,” He leaned over to open the bottom drawer of his desk to his right, pulling out another folder and resting it on the desk next to his open one. Skye stared at it. “There’s nothing new, really,” He said softly, “Only the information that I’ve updated recently. The information that you know about already.”

Skye pulled the file toward her and flipped it open. Her basic information was on the left, and the first paper on the right was the redacted one that felt years old to her, now. She flipped the page over, seeing a copy of the file on the SHIELD mission in that small village. She quickly moved that one aside too, and the next page was a mostly hand-written document. She immediately recognized Coulson’s handwriting, and realized it was a letter written to Director Fury, advising that she be given Agent status.

Coulson watched as a smile appeared on her face, and her fingers brushed along the page, following the curves of some of the letters. When he realized that he’d been watching her for too long, he returned his attention to his own file, finishing up the document he was writing an addendum on. They sat together in comfortable silence for a while, each perusing their own files.

“Has shown no negative responses to GH-325 serum.” Skye’s voice broke through the music playing, and her tone made him look up at her quickly. She looked perturbed.

“It’s true.” He offered. She lifted her eyes from the pages in her lap to meet his gaze.

“But I’ve shown responses to it?” She asked, her brow furrowed. Coulson set his pen down and leaned back in his chair.

“I don’t believe you have.” He began, and then said, “However, Agent May has expressed concerns regarding your…” While he tried to think of the correct word to use, Skye leaned forward again, setting her file folder back on his desk.

“My temper. The heart monitor. You’ve been monitoring my heart rate.” She said. “I thought it was just for weapons training… to help me learn to be calm and focused while using a gun.”

“That’s a part of it,” Coulson nodded, “But May was concerned about your well-being. She wants you to be able to protect yourself and to protect the team, but she doesn’t want you to change who you _are_. And for a while, you had been…”

“Cold, calculating.”

“Mini-May.” Coulson said, and Skye grinned. Coulson smirked at her. “We didn’t… _I_ didn’t want you to change who you are as a person. Your heart is what makes you special, Skye. It’s what makes you different than the rest of us.”

“Yeah, well, now we know a whole lot _more_ makes me different than _the rest of you_.” Skye said dryly, looking off to the side, embarrassed by his words.

“We need that heart, Skye. We need that compassion for other people. Especially now. SHIELD has been so caught up with this Hydra mess, we’ve forgotten what it’s like to _trust_ , to _care_.” He looked at her for a moment, and then added, “We’ve both got the same stuff in our blood, remember. You aren’t alone there.”

“Trust me, I won’t be forgetting _that_ any time soon.” Skye assured him dryly, glancing toward the side of the room where all of their GH research was piled on a table. She looked back toward her file, fingering a post-it note that was stuck to the back inside cover of the folder. “What does this mean?” She asked, and Coulson shifted slightly in his seat.

“Just a note to myself. Well,” He amended, “a suggestion to whomever would replace me as Director, should something happen to me.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Skye said quickly, determinedly. He stared at her for a moment, surprised by her sudden vehemence, touched. She laughed lightly. “Is it some code word that makes me vice-president of this shindig?”

Coulson kept his mouth closed, knowing that if he responded he would give it away. His silence did that anyway, and she looked up at him in surprise.

“Seriously? I was joking around, Coulson.” She blinked at him, and when he didn’t say anything she laughed nervously. “I am _so_ not qualified for that – May is far better suited – ”

“If something happens to me, May would become Director. And she needs you, Skye. She needs you to keep her from burying herself in the black hole that being Director puts you in.” Coulson interrupted. Skye stared at him.

“ _Nothing’s going to happen to you_.” Skye told him, almost ordering him. He sighed, clicking his pen and closing his file.

“I’ve already had this conversation with May weeks ago. It’s a contingency plan that’s already been decided.”

“ _No_ – ”

“Skye – ”

“Had I known you were thinking like that I would have beat the shit out of you!” Skye exclaimed, standing up quickly. Coulson stared up at her, surprised. There was a beat of silence between them, and Coulson said,

“If it makes you feel any better, May _did_.”

Skye did seem to relax marginally, and she looked back down at her file folder.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m… _honored_ that you think that highly of me,” Skye began softly, closing her folder and sliding it toward him, “But I can’t do this without you.” She looked him in the eyes. “SHIELD. I wouldn’t be here without you, I wouldn’t have stayed, and… I certainly won’t stay, if you aren’t around.”

“Skye,” Coulson sighed softly, and she shook her head, sitting back down in her chair.

“You can tell me it would be a waste of talent, of manpower, of loyalty – I don’t care. None of that would matter to me if you were gone.” She told him seriously. He found himself staring at her in surprise, again.

“Skye,” He said again, his voice soft for a different reason this time. “If I could make you my second in command right now, I would.” He told her honestly, and she raised her eyebrows at him.

“Why can’t you, if you think I’m so qualified for it?”

He looked at her for a long moment, and her brow furrowed as she slowly realized what that look in his eyes meant.

“Coulson,”

“I care about you too much.”

“In what capacity?”

“I don’t know.”  


\-----  


“You never _were_ just my boss, you know.” Skye informed him from her perch on the edge of his desk. He was leaning back into his chair, pulled out from the desk just far enough for her to have room to sit.

“You never were just a protégé.” He admitted.

They looked at one another in silence as the record changed.

“AC-DC?” Skye mused. “Very different than Bill Withers.”

“I needed some variety.” Coulson replied, his eyes dropping to her lips. “You should lock the door,” He advised her, distracted. She slipped off the desk and moved toward the door as he stood.

“You might want to turn the music up.” Skye told him, and he did just that before pressing his front against her back, dropping his lips to her neck and wrapping his arms around her.  


\-----  


“You’re right,” She said later, both of them resting their backs against his desk, “If I were your second in command it would be too…”

“Awkward?” He filled in, and she looked at him and laughed.

“Cliché,” She grinned, reaching to wipe lipstick off of his bottom lip. He grinned sheepishly and grasped her hand, pulling her into his lap to kiss her again.


End file.
